Supporters of conductor Arild Remmereit have formed a slate
of opposition candidates for membership on the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
board of directors and will try to get them elected at the RPO’s annual meeting
on Wednesday afternoon.
Leaders of the dissidents are urging other RPO members who
are Remmereit supporters to attend the meeting or to fill out a proxy ballot.
According to the RPO bylaws, nominations for board positions
must be presented to the RPO board secretary by October 31. But Ray Grosswirth,
spokesperson for the opposition group, said this morning that the bylaws
contain a clause that allows presentation of an alternate slate “if there is
sufficient legal cause.”
Remmereit’s supporters will argue that such a cause exists,
Grosswirth said: no one knew that in November, the board would terminate the
contract of the popular Remmereit.
If RPO board leaders don’t permit the presentation of the
alternate slate at Wednesday’s meeting, Grosswirth said, the dissidents are
prepared to pursue legal action.
At that meeting — which is at 5 p.m. at Hatch Hall in the
Eastman Theatre complex — RPO members will elect eight directors. The
dissidents’ slate consists of six nominees: Eileen Buholtz and Edward Fiandach,
both of whom are attorneys; former Brighton Supervisor Sandra Frankel; media
consultant Ray Grosswirth; Hobart Lerner, an ophthalmologist; and database and
software consultant John Lovenheim.
The RPO board has nominated eight candidates: William
Cherry, Patrick Fulford, Marie Kenton, Dawn Lipson, Katherine Schumacher, Mark
Siwiec, Ingrid Stanlis, and Eugene Toy.
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This article appears in Jan 16-22, 2013.
Thank you Ms. Towler, for writing and publishing this article. Maestro Remmereit’s supporters also want a new, positive direction for the RPO. I believe this can only be accomplished by changing the makeup of the Board, and I appreciate your effort to alert the public that we offer a choice.
This is great news for the RPO and for our community. The distinguished slate of alternative board members are among the most highly talented and accomplished enthusiasts of the RPO and deserve the most serious consideration. That such individuals care enough about the future of the RPO to organize in a such a way is an impressive indication of the drive and experience that is sorely needed by the current RPO. Please keep in mind that the existing Board has so badly managed the Remmereit appointment that many people now doubt the very future of the organization and faithful donors are questioning their future commitments or have already withdrawn significant funds. That is an abysmal record for the current board, still coping with deficits. My hope is that the obvious enthusiasm that this “dissident” roster has brought to the discussion reenergizes the current, confused board, highlights the quality the RPO is capable of, and reintroduces the “new” RPO to the Rochester community who lost interest years ago. In fact, the candidates proposed by the Board should remove their names from nomination in the best interests of our community. Such “dissident” enthusiasm helped to save the collection at the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House several years and I think it can accomplish the same for the RPO. Good luck!
Seems fairly obvious that the only individuals who can make the determination that there is “sufficient legal cause” for accepting a very late slate of nominees are the very members of the board who these malcontents , I mean dissidents seek to replace.
(Sarcasm Alert !) Gee, I wonder what the outcome will be ?
In addition to possibly forcing the RPO to expend scare financial resources to fight off this challenge should we anticipate that these children will also threaten to hold their collective breaths until they turn blue?
By the way Been There., does this “we” you refer to include any other individuals who are unwilling to use their real names?